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If campaign endorsements meant everything – or meant even as much as they used to – next month’s election for a City Council seat in the northwest San Fernando Valley would be no contest.Kevin Modesti in the Daily News.

Candidate Mitch Englander lists endorsements from more than 280 organizations and individuals, including at least 50 public officials. Rival Brad Smith is a distant second, listing 66 endorsements on his website, including three office-holders.

Their four opponents in the 12th District election on March 8 advertise no endorsements on their websites.

Englander said the long list of supporters should impress voters: He said it demonstrates his broad support and “shows I’m independent, because I’ve been able to work with so many different groups.”

More than 4,000 churchgoers sang a heartfelt “Happy Birthday,” to Cardinal Roger Mahony on Sunday, just minutes after he officially stepped down from leading the largest Roman Catholic Archdiocese in the nation to transfer his pastoral leadership to Los Angeles’ first Latino archbishop.Susan Abram in the Daily News,

The birthday wishes inside downtown’s overflowing Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels came during an historic Mass service that officially marked the Cardinal’s retirement and the installation of Archbishop Jose H. Gomez. Mahony, who turned 75 on Sunday, kept the ceremony of transition lighthearted in spirit yet steeped in ancient traditions.

n recent weeks, the Sunday morning masses celebrated by Cardinal Roger Mahony at the downtown cathedral have drawn larger-than-usual crowds, heavily populated by the poor and undocumented of Los Angeles. Tony Castro in the Daily News..

Those two constituencies, after all, make up the centerpiece of his quarter-century legacy as the leader of the Los Angeles Archdiocese – a post he will officially turn over Sunday as his 75th birthday forces his retirement.

In those years, the archbishop marched with Cesar Ch vez, championed immigrant rights and called for changes in the country’s immigration policy.

The group backing a measure to increase the amount of property tax money used to support Los Angeles city libraries announced Thursday it has received the backing of local Democratic organizations.
The Los Angeles County Democratic Party, the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley and the Los Angeles County Young Democrats issued statements of support for Measure L on the March 8 ballot.
Under the plan, the amount of money diverted from the property tax would phase in to .3 percent to bring in $130 million a year. If approved officials said it wil allow the Library Department to restore many of the hours of service eliminated over the past two years.
“Measure L will re-open libraries and restore lost services without raising taxes and without leaving the tab for the next generation,” said David Graham-Caso, president of the Los Angeles County Young Democrats. “Libraries are a place where students prepare to enter college, where teenagers study after school, where communities meet.”
However, the proposal also has significant opposition from city unions and the Los Angeles Police Protective League who say it is a matter of budgeting by the ballot and could take money from other vital services.